Vampire Concept Evolution 2019-2022

The Vampire Evolution Project is an ongoing exploration of creature design within my Thibodeaux universe, showcasing the multi-year development of my vampire species. This project spans early 2019 experiments to fully realized 2022 character models, illustrating my growth in anatomy, topology, rendering, and world-building.

I created separate models and rigs for both Male and Female Vampires, each built with their own anatomical style, proportions, facial structures, wing systems, and movement language. The rigs were designed to support both grounded and aerial poses, incorporating flexible membranes, wing claws, expressive faces, and agile limb mechanics.

My Role

Sole Creator: Responsible for the full visual and technical execution—character modeling, creature design, environment creation, lighting, rendering, and final compositing.

Responsibilities:

Creature Concept & Design

• Designed the full vampire species, developing both Male and Female versions with distinct shapes, bone structures, and stylized anatomical exaggerations.

• Explored evolution across years—starting with early 2019 creatures and refining them into more advanced 2022 versions with improved proportions and detail.

• Created variations that support grounded movement, aerial poses, and predatory behavior silhouettes.

Sculpting & Modeling

• Sculpted high-resolution versions of both Male and Female Vampires, emphasizing expressive facial features, wing membranes, talons, muscular structure, and stylized bone formations.

• Modeled separate topology variations for the different eras of the project, showing growth and refinement in my sculpting workflow.

Rigging & Creature Mechanics

• Built separate rigs for Male and Female Vampires, including full body deformation systems, wing membrane rigs, facial controllers, and tail rigs.

• Created rigs capable of supporting crawling, perched, hovering, stalking, and full airborne attack poses.

• Updated rig systems over the years as the models evolved.

Texturing & Lookdev

• Painted detailed skin textures with stylized pores, color gradients, subsurface scattering, and contrasting red accents around the eyes and musculature.

• Developed lookdev focused on creating a hybrid of stylized fantasy and gritty realism appropriate for the dark Thibodeaux world.

Lighting & Rendering

• Built multiple lighting setups for cinematic battle scenes, dark forest environments, and isolated character turntables.

• Used dramatic rim lights, volumetric glows, and high-contrast highlights to enhance menace and silhouette clarity.

Illustration & Storytelling

• Created action pieces such as “The Snare of the Vampire” and “Steel and Maw,” depicting the creatures mid-attack in combat against Steel.

• Developed atmospheric scenes featuring female vampires stalking prey or interacting with their environment.

• Composed model sheets and turntables showing evolution from early blockouts to fully polished forms.

Compositing & Final Polish

• Combined render passes with atmospheric VFX, motion blur, color grading, and tint overlays.

• Added sparks, fog, dust, and glow accents to reinforce a dramatic dark-fantasy tone..

Software Used

3DS Max, Maya (Rigging and Posing), Corona Renderer, Marmoset Toolbag3, Substance Painter, TopoGun 2, After Effects, Photoshop